CHAPTER 6: STATUTES CONSTRUED AS A
Make to make every part effective, harmonious,
WHOLE AND IN RELATION TO OTHER
STATUTES
A. Statute is construed as a Whole
Generally:
 Each part or section should be construed in
connection with every other part and section so as to
produce a harmonious whole.
 The law must be considered as a whole, just as it is
necessary to consider a sentence in its entirety in
order to grasp its true meaning. It is a dangerous
practice to base construction upon only a part of a
section since one portion may be qualified by the
other portion. (Catiis v CA, 482 SCRA 71)
Intent ascertained from statute as a whole
The legislative meaning is to be extracted from the statute,
every part of the statute is to be construed with reference
to every other part and every word and phrase in
connection with its context.
Optima Statuti Interpretatio est ipsum statutum
The best interpreter of a statute is the statute itself.
Purpose or context as controlling guide
Statutes must receive a reasonable construction to all their
provisions, force and effect being given not narrowly to
isolated and disjoined clauses, but to their spirit, broadly
taking all their provisions together in one rational view.
Giving effect to statute as a whole
Every part of a statute should be given effect because a
statute is enacted as an integrated measure and not as a
hodgepodge of conflicting provisions. and it also implies
that one part is as important as the other.
Ways on how to construe a statute as held in Republic
vs. Reyes
1. Interpret the thought conveyed by the statute as a
whole
2. Construe the constituent parts together
3. Ascertain the legislative intent from the whole act
4. Consider each and every provision thereof in the
light of the general purpose of the statute
5.
sensible
ut res magis valeat quam pereat
That construction is to be sought which gives effect to the
whole of the statute.
Conflicting provisions are reconciled
 In construing statutes as a whole, the reconciling
and harmonizing provisions of the statutes are
included because the statutes will be given effect
as a whole.
 The courts harmonize the conflicting provisions for
they are equally the handiwork of the same
legislature
Special and General provisions in same statute.
Special would overrule the general, however special
provisions must be operative and the general affect only
where it may properly apply, because special provisions
are construed as an exception to the general provision.
Construction as not to render provision nugatory
Provision of a statute should not be construed as to render
another provision of the statute as nugatory.
Reason for the rule
Legislature enacted the statute wherein the provisions are
in harmony and consistent with each other.
Qualification of rule
 When one part cannot be reconciled with another
part of the statute without nullifying one in favor of
the other: the court shall choose the construction
which will best effectuate the legislative intent.
 If there is no ground for choice between
inharmonious provisions: the latter provision, being
the last expression of the legislative will shall vacate
the former to the extent of the repugnancy.
Interpretatio fienda est ut res magis valeat quam
Laws should be interpreted with a view to upholding rather
than destroying it.
Construction as to give life to law
 Law must receive sensible interpretation to promote
the ends for which they are enacted.
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  Constructed in a reasonable and practical manner to
give life to the law.
Interpretatio fienda est ut res magis valeat quam
pereat
That interpretation that will give the thing efficacy is to be
adopted
Construction to avoid Surplusage
 Each and every part should be given due effect
and meaning
 Do not construe a legal provision to be useless
surplusage and meaningless
 Legislature is presumed to have used the word or
phrase for a purpose
Statute and its amendments construed together
 The rule applies to the construction and
amendments of the statute.
 Presumed that changes have a purpose which
should be ascertained and given effect.
B. Statute construed in harmony with the Constitution
• Must Do:
Construe the statute in harmony with the Constitution.
The construction in favor of its constitutionality shall be
adopted.
It shall be maintained, and not destroyed.
• Must not Do:
Construct it independently from the Constitution
It cannot, in order to bring a statute within the fundamental
law, amend it by construction.
C. Statutes construed in relation to other Statutes
Statutes In Pari Materia
When they relate to the same person, thing, purpose,
object, or subject matter.
How statutes in pari materia construed
It should be in harmony with other statutes of the same
subject matter.
Interpretare et concordare leges legibus est optimus
interpretandi modus
Every statute must be so construed and harmonized with
other statutes as in form a uniform system of jurisprudence
In the absence of any express repeal or amendment,
the new statute is deemed enacted in accord with the
legislative policy embodied in those prior statutes
How? Trace the history of the legislation on the subject
Distingue tempora et concordabis jura
Distinguish times and you will harmonize laws
Where harmonization is impossibleIf two or more laws
on the same subject cannot possibly be reconciled or
harmonized, one has to give way in favor of the other. The
earlier one must give way to the later one, it being the
current expression of the legislative will.
General and Special Statutes
General Statutes
A statute which applies to all of the people of the state or
to all of a particular class or persons in the state with equal
force.
Special Statutes
A statute which relates to particular persons or things of a
class, or to a particular portion or section of the state only.
How Construed?
Must be read together and harmonized, if possible, with a
view to giving effect to both.
If impossible?
The special must prevail since it evinces the legislative
intent more clearly than that of a general statute and must
be taken as intended to constitute an exception to the
general act.
Rationale:
The legislature in passing a law of special character has
its attention directed to the special facts and circumstances
which the special act is intended to meet.
Exceptions of the Rule
1. Where the legislature clearly intended the later
general enactment to cover the whole subject and
to repeal all prior laws.
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 2. Where the special law merely establishes a
general rile while the general law creates a
specific and special rule.
D. Other Statutes Construed
Supplemental statutes
Intended to supply deficiencies in an existing statute to
add, complete, or extend statutes without changing or
modifying the original text; read and construed together
with the original text to make an intelligible whole.
Adopted Statutes
 Patterned after, or copied from foreign countries
 Presuming that the legislature has adopted the
construction and practices with the adoption of
the law, taking into consideration the
construction of the courts of the country of
origin, the law itself and practices under it.
 Does not apply to subsequent statutes prior to
its adoption despite having persuasive effect on
the interpretation of the adopted statute.

Reenacted statutes
Statutes containing reproduced or substantially the same
provisions of an earlier statute or similar statutes which
constitute their reenact of the previous ones or the
provisions thereof.
RULE: When the court of last resort has construed a
statute or a provision and the same is substantially
reenacted, the legislature may be regarded as adopting
such construction, and the construction, which the adopted
statute previously received.
Example: Montelibano v Ferrer, the provision of the City
Charter of Manila on the prosecution of crimes by the city
fiscal and the provision of the City Charter of Bacolod on
the same subject are identically worded, therefore should
receive the same construction.
Adoption of contemporaneous construction
Since the legislature is presumed to know the existence of
such construction when it makes such reenactments,
statutes that have received practical or contemporaneous
construction by those tasked with the duty to execute it is
a persuasive indication of the adoption of the prior practical
or executive construction.
Qualification of the rule on contemporaneous
construction
1. The reenactment of the statute is generally held to
be in effect a legislative adoption of the
construction.
2. A judicial or contemporaneous construction has
been given to a statute only applies when the
statute is capable of the construction given to it
and when the construction has become a settled
rule of conduct.